Man charged with robberies at Macomb Township pizza shops

Detectives believe they have solved robberies and carjackings at two Macomb Township pizza shops with the arrest of a township resident.

Joseph Aaron Crossley, 21, was held in lieu of $500,000 bond after his arraignment Monday in 41-A District Court.

Crossley was arrested following a robbery of two employees of the Little Caesars on 21 Mile Road near North Avenue, moments after they exited the business at approximately 11 p.m. Friday. A man wearing a red bandana to partially conceal his face demanded money from the workers, ages 19 and 16, at gunpoint and ordered them to get out of the vehicle they were sitting in, Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said.

The robber told the pair to go back into the pizza shop, police said. However, the door was locked. The robber then fled in a 2001 Oldsmobile Alero belonging to one of the victims, Wickersham said.

Following a police broadcast about the stolen car, Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Stefanski spotted the vehicle in Mount Clemens. The driver was pulled over near Howard and Jones streets and arrested the suspect. A stolen 9 mm handgun was in the robber’s possession, police said.

Investigators allege Crossley is the same person responsible for the Feb. 3 armed robbery at the Domino’s Pizza, on 21 Mile near Card Road. That pizza store is approximately one mile from the Little Caesars.

In the Domino’s holdup, a man brandishing a handgun and donning a red bandana entered the pizza store and told an employee to give him all of the money from a cash register, police said. The clerk gave the robber $2,500 in cash and her cellphone, police said. A deliveryman was forced to give up his wallet and car keys. The vehicle was found in an adjoining subdivision.

Crossley was arraigned on two counts of carjacking; single counts of armed robbery and assault with intent to rob while armed; two counts of receiving and concealing a firearm; and three counts of possessing a firearm while committing a felony.